Jesus-The Bread of Life

After reading this passage from John there is little confusion about what it means to follow Jesus. If we place anything of need over our need for Jesus, we are not following him.

Jesus freaked out the Jews from John 6:25-59. Drink my blood and eat my body. Jesus said if you don’t do this, you will not have eternal life. Was Jesus calling us to be cannibals? Hopefully you can see that this was not Jesus’ message. He was speaking figuratively. We are to need Jesus just like we need food everyday to sustain our earthly lives.

Jesus was also telling this to people that had come from the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’. They wanted to know what must be done…to get fed again. I love the message that Jesus gives, because it’s not just about showing up, it’s about following. Jesus said that you can eat manna (bread) everyday and die, or you can satisfy yourself with Jesus and have eternal life.

This is about most of our beginnings. We want to live life to the fullest. Trying to entertain and satisfy ourselves with what this world has to offer. So most of us look at Jesus and Christianity as an option for this life. Jesus did not come to fill your belly, he came to save your soul from eternal suffering.

This is important for you to understand-if you are willing to follow Jesus and acknowledge him as Lord, he will hold you and never leave you.

I wish I could tell you this face to face instead of you reading these words. God loves you! He knows everything you’ve done and he loves you! I want nothing more for your life then to know Jesus Christ as your personal savior!

If you’re reading this and have questions please email me so that I can tell you this face to face. And as always-the coffee is on me.

-PC
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

Making Decisions

When I make a decision, I weigh the outcome. Whether it be going to Subway or to Sonic, and trying to figure out the aftermath; or maybe it means buying Toy A or Toy B for Carlee (usually the one that makes less noise wins!). Mature adults make decisions based on what will happen after that decision. This is why I’m beginning to understand the difficulty for people when they are faced with the question of who Jesus is, and ultimately, what’s going to happen if I follow him?

I was encouraged this last week as we read from John chapter 6; the story of Jesus walking on water. He had just fed over 5 thousand people, and there were 12 baskets full of leftovers and then he appears to his disciples in the middle of a lake during a storm. From these two stories I have everything I need to make a decision to follow Christ.

First, he promises to provide when there seems like there is no way. Over 5 thousand people were approaching Jesus and his disciples on a mountainside. How were they going to be fed?!? Not only did he take 5 barley loaves and 2 fish and make enough for everyone to be full, but he also made enough baskets of leftovers for each disciple. Are you worried that when you start following Jesus, there won’t be enough to go around? Are you worried about finances? Are you worried about your time?

In this story, Jesus not only feeds a multitude of people, he lets his disciples know that he cares for them individually. He knows them. He knows their needs and while it may seem like this miracle was for all the people that showed up one afternoon, he still has something for them when it is all over.

And then Jesus walks on water. Another instance where Jesus is not saying, ‘Hey guys-check this out!!’ No, he is saying I will get in the boat with you to wait out every storm and we will get to the destination planned. The beauty of this in the gospel of John is that it says once they had rowed 3 or 3 ½ miles, Jesus appeared to them walking on water. Jesus walked miles on water before he got to them. He was performing the miracle without them even knowing it yet!

Is it possible that Jesus is performing miracles in your life right now, but we just can’t see them yet?? Yes!! Even if you are searching, even if you are still weighing the outcomes, Jesus loves you and is working miracles in your life!

And when you do decide to follow Jesus and become a disciple, know this-he will always provide for your needs and will let nothing separate you from him.

-PC

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

Being Inadequate

Saying that I'm not able to do something is hard. Maybe it's because I'm a man, maybe it's because I'm competitive or maybe it's because I'm a human like all of you. To admit that we don't know something or that we can't do something is difficult.
This will leave us feeling inadequate in our lives. It is at this point when we have one of two choices to make. We either realize that there is a God that can complete us and through His power make us adequate or we can dive down deep into depression and start searching this world for things that will make us content, happy, etc.
There is a story in the Bible called the 'Feeding of the Five Thousand'-a story that most of you know. Jesus takes 5 barley loaves and 2 fish from a young boy and from this offering creates a miracle to feed over 5 thousand people in one afternoon. What intrigues me about this story was what one disciple said leading up to the miracle.
Jesus asks Philip where shall we buy bread for all of these people? Did Jesus know that he was going to produce a mass miracle at this time-probably. But he wanted to 'test' Philip to see if he would trust Him. Up till now Jesus was doing mostly one on one miracles, and the disciples were just part of the crowd watching. What Jesus was preparing to do now involved them all! There would surely be some problems if Jesus wanted to feed these people. A riot could occur or these men might be brought to the royal officials as blasphemers! And so Philip isn't informing Jesus about the money that would be needed, he's pleading with Him to do something else with these people.

 We can't do this! We don't have the bread or the money! Jesus, we are inadequate for what you ask!

2 Corinthians 3:5, 'Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God...'

Ephesians 3:20, 'Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...'

Do you feel inadequate at times? Take hope in the Lord-you might be on the verge of a miracle.

-PC
www.rescuesumner.org

Jesus is NOT a Supplement

As humans we are always striving to make our lives better in some way. Whether it's financially, with our health or maybe even our spiritual life. We tend to think that our spiritual lives fit in to with what we already have going. Almost to suggest that believing in a higher power, say Jesus, would supplement our lives and make them 'better'. It's funny how sometimes we meet with Christian brothers and sisters-we talk about family things, our job, our finances and then someone gets enough guts to pop the question, 'How's your spiritual life?' Thats backwards. Everything we do and everything we are is spiritual. Our very being should illuminate what we believe. This will infiltrate our family lives, how we appreciate our job, how we talk about blessings and not just financial troubles. Everything we are is spiritual.

As Christ followers this means our lives wrap around Jesus. We believe Jesus was the word and the word became flesh. He was there at the beginning, came to earth as a man, died on a cross, and rose to show us that he had the power to do the same for us. Everything we do and say should be about Jesus.
Some of you are crying, 'Jesus Freak!' I hope you are.

Here is a test for you today as you are reading this-how many times did you say Jesus today-the name that gives life? (Or have you...) Could this be because you have relied on other names and other claims?

Jesus made some amazing claims about himself-he could raise the dead (John 5:21), give life (John 5:21), and has been entrusted with all judgement (John 5:22). Jesus backed up these claims by talking about John the Baptist-a leader in his own day who claimed the coming Messiah and then came face to face with Jesus. John 1:28, 'Look, the Lamb of God.' Jesus mentions God the Father and also the scriptures as his other witnesses.

Then in John 5:44 Jesus gives us the reason why most people will look at the claims of Jesus, the witnesses and still not believe (or only want Jesus as a supplement). 'How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain praise that comes from the only God?'

Have you lived today to receive praise from men/women or from God?

-PC
www.rescuesumner.org
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

Jesus is God Part 2

I have already heard from some people that the video would not play on their computer/devices, so just in case here it is in written form!!

This last week at The Rescue we talked about how Jesus told the Jews he was God. We were in John chapter 5 verses 16-30. Jesus is being persecuted by the Jews because of the previous story-Jesus healing an invalid on the Sabbath. He replies by saying that his Father was at work, and so he needed to be also. Simply saying that if an opportunity to do good arises, we need to take advantage of it, even if it is on the Sabbath.
So a question would be why did the Jews want to kill Jesus even more from this? Yes, he was breaking Jewish law, but it was the Father-Son comment that enraged them. They believed in God the Father. They also believed a grand Messiah was coming. He would come down from heaven in a mighty way stand before the Jews and with a giant thumbs up would say, 'You were right boys-here I am!'
Yeah, that wasn't Jesus. The Son of God came in a way that was not afraid to tell even the highest 'religious' officials that they were wrong.
He raised the dead, He gave life, and He was the judge. Jesus was God. The Father held back nothing from the Son.
After this reading I was taken back to a theme we had a couple weeks ago. I am struck by people who call themselves Christians and yet they try and put God together, like he's some jigsaw puzzle. God is already God. He is not someone we Christians put together. He was here before us. And he is also not someone that only becomes real when you invite him into your life.
We also don't get the luxury of arranging scripture to wrap around our lives. The Holy Scriptures has everything necessary for our salvation.
God is God over Christians and NON-Christians. He is still God.
And so the conclusion is simple-are you willing to submit to the fact that there is a God, and He is in charge? Jesus is the judge. I hope and pray you take time to think about this. And as always if you have questions/comments about this, please contact me.

-PC
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org
www.rescuesumner.org

Jesus Is God

God Bless you this week!
-PC
www.rescuesumner.org
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

Do You Want to Get Well?

Sin.

We all make a choice in life about this one word.

If you believe that sin is a willing rebellion against God, then you realize it acts as a disease. It infects maybe a ‘small’ part of our body, and when unattended it not only will continue to infect but it will kill.

Sin doesn’t want to just make our life hard or unejoyable. Sin has come to destroy. Sin has come to kill.  Please hear me, my brother and my sister, we are at war. There are forces in this world that would like nothing more then for us to succumb to sin and give in to the desires of the flesh.

I tell you this because we are steadily starting to live in a world that does not believe in sin. As long as we believe there is a God, we’ll be fine. NO. NO. NO. We must as Christians, as the church of Jesus, go into the world to make disciples. To preach about a savior that loved us so much, He had nails driven through his hands and feet. He had a crown of thorns pushed into his forehead. He was lifted up onto a cross not just so we can wear them around our necks on a chain.

JESUS DIED FOR MY SIN.

And so the preaching of sin is really the preaching of love. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This last Sunday at The Rescue Church we were in John chapter 5 and read about the invalid at the pool of Bethesda. He had been in this condition for 38 years. After hearing his story, Jesus simply asked him if he wanted to get well. An odd question, right? Well not really. This man had gotten used to his life. He most likely enjoyed his support group of friends who were in the same condition. He was considered a ‘victim’ and so received benefits.

As this man is trying to decide-Jesus shouts, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!’ As if to say, ‘Stop messing around with sin! You know the consequences! Start a new life today!’

Playing hide and seek with God is a lose-lose situation.  He knows your heart, and he knows the cost. As said before with every slam of the hammer driving the nails into his hands, he was counting the cost and still went through with it.

So the question is asked back to you-will you go through with it? Do you want to get well? Do you want Jesus to take away the sin in your life?

He can. He took mine. I love Jesus too much not to tell you this.

-PC

Email: pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org